Donald Trump Honours Charlie Kirk With Presidential Medal Of Freedom On His Birth Anniversary

President Donald Trump criticised what he cast as "radical left violence" as he awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, honouring the conservative activist whose death spurred an administration effort targeting left-leaning groups.

"Charlie Kirk was a martyr for truth and for freedom," Trump said during an event at the White House on Tuesday as he posthumously presented the nation’s highest civilian honour to an activist whose killing has galvanised the conservative movement. 

"He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America," Trump said.

The president was joined by Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow, visiting Argentine President Javier Milei, and several prominent conservative media members and officials from his administration. 

But Trump also used the ceremony to reiterate his claims that a recent spate of political violence was the fault of his political opponents.

“In the days since Charlie’s killing, we’ve seen exactly why our country so dearly needed his example. We’ve watched legions of far left radicals resort to desperate acts of violence and terror because they know that their ideas and arguments are persuading no one,” Trump said.

Trump also cited a controversy involving the Democratic nominee for attorney general in Virginia, Jay Jones, over text messages from three years ago where he mused about violent acts toward a then-Republican lawmaker and his family. 

“We’ve seen that a candidate for attorney general in Virginia boasted that he would want to see the Republican legislature, a legislator in Virginia, shot in the head, and to see his children murdered. He actually said this, and now he continues to run for office, and most people continue to back him,” Trump said. “Let’s see how that turns out. But that’s a really bad one.”

Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at an event in Utah in September. Tyler James Robinson, the man accused of killing Kirk, faces the death penalty for charges including aggravated murder. While authorities have said the suspect acted alone and have not linked the killing to any political groups, Trump and allies have indicated they intend to carry out a wide-ranging response targeting leftist groups and other political opponents they blame in part for Kirk’s death.

The ceremony fell on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday, and his widow, Erika, thanked Trump for the honour.

"President Trump, I have spent seven-and-a-half years trying to find a perfect gift for Charlie,” she said. “Now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have."

Administration officials have floated moves, including criminal racketeering probes to investigations into groups’ tax-exempt status. Trump has already adopted measures against Antifa, signing an executive order designating it a domestic terrorist group and last week directing members of his Cabinet to declare it a foreign terrorist organization. 

Critics have said that the administration is exaggerating the threat from the movement — whose name is short for “antifascist” — noting that it lacks centralised leadership and a defined organisation. The president has also moved to expand his deployment of troops to Democratic-run cities to include Portland, where he has accused protesters against his administration’s deportation efforts of being orchestrated by Antifa.